
Against most mothers' best wishes, motorcycles are still a popular mode of transportation. Whether that be a commuter scooter in the city or a weekend Harley cruiser. In 2017, there were just over 8.4 million registered motorcycles in the United States. That's a 23-percent increase over the last decade. Pretty good for an industry that is supposedly being diminished by millennials.
Riding a motorcycle no matter where you are is dangerous. The open exposure compared to the confines of a vehicle presents a greater risk of bodily harm. Safety features are better than ever but injuries and death are an ever-present risk. We here at QuoteWizard set out to see which states are the most dangerous for motorcycle riders.
Methodology
We looked at 2017 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) fatality figures in each state and compared it with 2017 Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) motorcycle registration data to find which states had the highest rate of fatalities per registered motorcycle. Below is a ranking of all 50 states, with 1 being the highest rate of fatalities and 50 being the lowest.
Rank | State | Registered Motorcycles | Fatalities |
Fatalities per 10,000 Registered Motorcycles
|
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mississippi | 28,262 | 45 | 15.92 |
2 | Texas | 349,082 | 435 | 12.46 |
3 | South Carolina | 116,972 | 140 | 11.97 |
4 | Hawaii | 30,998 | 34 | 10.97 |
5 | North Carolina | 188,869 | 199 | 10.54 |
6 | Florida | 587,499 | 594 | 10.11 |
7 | Tennessee | 181,126 | 171 | 9.44 |
8 | Arizona | 170,274 | 157 | 9.22 |
9 | Kentucky | 101,165 | 93 | 9.19 |
10 | New Mexico | 60,348 | 48 | 7.95 |
11 | Nevada | 74,740 | 59 | 7.89 |
12 | Georgia | 203,968 | 158 | 7.75 |
13 | Louisiana | 113,664 | 87 | 7.65 |
14 | Alabama | 110,012 | 84 | 7.64 |
15 | Missouri | 153,905 | 116 | 7.54 |
16 | Arkansas | 91,127 | 66 | 7.24 |
17 | Oklahoma | 129,451 | 93 | 7.18 |
18 | Rhode Island | 28,267 | 20 | 7.08 |
19 | Kansas | 94,850 | 64 | 6.75 |
20 | Delaware | 28,267 | 18 | 6.37 |
21 | West Virginia | 60,683 | 38 | 6.26 |
22 | California | 822,844 | 509 | 6.19 |
23 | Idaho | 66,533 | 38 | 5.71 |
24 | Connecticut | 87,660 | 50 | 5.70 |
25 | Utah | 84,413 | 48 | 5.69 |
26 | Colorado | 190,869 | 108 | 5.66 |
27 | Oregon | 133,760 | 75 | 5.61 |
28 | Virginia | 195,845 | 103 | 5.26 |
29 | Maryland | 118,277 | 62 | 5.24 |
30 | Wyoming | 28,968 | 15 | 5.18 |
31 | Indiana | 250,904 | 117 | 4.66 |
32 | Maine | 51,306 | 23 | 4.48 |
33 | Alaska | 31,550 | 14 | 4.44 |
34 | Pennsylvania | 372,679 | 165 | 4.43 |
35 | Nebraska | 55,736 | 22 | 3.95 |
36 | New York | 389,404 | 150 | 3.85 |
37 | Massachusetts | 168,931 | 63 | 3.73 |
38 | Ohio | 409,893 | 151 | 3.68 |
39 | Illinois | 319,764 | 116 | 3.63 |
40 | New Jersey | 150,527 | 54 | 3.59 |
41 | Washington | 235,501 | 84 | 3.57 |
42 | New Hampshire | 78,962 | 28 | 3.55 |
43 | Minnesota | 241,556 | 61 | 2.53 |
44 | Wisconsin | 336,410 | 83 | 2.47 |
45 | Iowa | 194,606 | 45 | 2.31 |
46 | Vermont | 30,532 | 6 | 1.97 |
47 | North Dakota | 120,494 | 17 | 1.41 |
48 | South Dakota | 120,494 | 17 | 1.41 |
49 | Michigan | 258,487 | 25 | 0.97 |
50 | Montana | 293,567 | 21 | 0.72 |
Takeaways
A key pattern we found in fatality rates among states is weather. Colder, more northern states like Alaska and New Hampshire have low fatality rates, while warmer, more southern states like Texas and Mississippi had the highest rates. When you consider that motorcycle riders in Alaska can only ride a few months out of the year, compared to Texas where you can ride all year long, that difference in rideable seasons has a huge impact on the number of fatalities. Warm weather states are most dangerous for motorcycle riders because of the year round chances of road fatalities compared to the limited time frames of colder weather states.